What I Can't Do
by urstory
Summary: Takes place in CF-Gale's POV. Gale gets a glimpse of how Peeta can take Katniss's nightmares away.


Summary: Takes place in CF-Gale gets a glimpse of how Peeta can take away Katniss's nightmares. Don't own anything-obviously! First fanfic attempt! Reviews and suggestions appreciated!

It's strange, seeing him sitting so comfortably in her living room. Strange, seeing him come and go without so much as a knock on the door. And strange, seeing how at ease he is interacting with her little sister, Prim.

I don't like it.

I shift uncomfortably in my chair, my back still aching from the whipping I had received only a couple weeks earlier when we received our new Head Peacekeeper, watching the baker boy-Peeta-carefully. He sits there staring into the fire completely lost in thought, probably about her my mind can't help but think bitterly. And it is just as Katniss's name crosses my mind that I all of the sudden hear the screams.

I freeze for a split second, trying to understand where such horrible sounds could be coming from and in that brief moment it took me to realize what I was hearing, he was gone.

As I leapt off my chair to follow him, I couldn't help but notice just how quickly and calmly Peeta seemed to move. There was an air about him that made it seem as though he was familiar with this situation, that he was going through well practiced motions. I had barely processed this by the time he was up the stairs, down the hall, and outside her bedroom door.

He didn't even hesitate at the door, but barged right in with that same serious, purposeful air. I briefly wondered if this was something that happened between the two of them all those nights spent on the train and in the Capitol. Her screams rang even louder in my ears as the door was thrown open and I paused silently in the doorway, horror-struck by what I saw.

I had never seen Katniss in so much pain. Her whole body seemed to radiate anguish as it thrashed about on the bed and her screams were coming out both strangled and piercing. I had never seen her so vulnerable and then I realized I had absolutely no idea how to fix it.

Peeta didn't seem to have this problem. He grasped her upper arms firmly, urgently whispering her name. She gasped all of the sudden and her eyes popped open, wild with terror.

"Peeta!" she breathed, pulling him down on top of her, arms wrapped around his neck, quietly sobbing into his chest. His arms wrapped around her tiny waist and he clutched her firmly to him. An intense pang of jealousy jolted through me.

He was whispering gently in her ear now, things like "It's okay. . .I'm here. . .I won't let that happen. . .I won't let them hurt you. . ." I felt my hands ball into fists. I should be the one holding her. I should be the one comforting her!

And that's when I heard Katniss speak.

"Don't leave me," she whispered, pressing her body even closer to his and her leg wrapping around him to pull him even more into her. It felt like a knife went through my gut. Peeta's right hand stroked her face and hair, his left hand massaging circle on her lower back.

"I will never leave you," he whispered into her ear and as his lips dropped just a few millimeters to press lightly to her bare shoulder, I could literally see the tension leave her body. And as she melted even more into him, falling asleep again I felt the knife in my gut twist.

I spent the rest of that night in a blur of anger, jealousy, bitterness, and resentment. I guess it shouldn't have surprised me when the next morning I found them still asleep in her bed-or, at least, she was asleep. He was still in the bed holding her protectively, his hand drawing patterns on her back absentmindedly and simply staring at her with a look mixed of pain, joy, and pure love. She was curled up practically on top of him, her hand loosely gripping the front of his shirt.

And when she let out a deep sigh and the ghost of a smile flit across her face I let myself admit what I had known ever sense they had stepped off the train that brought them back from the Capitol: I couldn't give her what he could. No matter how hard I tried I would never be able to fully understand what she had been through.


End file.
